LEINSTER BRIDGE CLUB (LBC) Guidelines and Bridge Etiquette 2023 General Guidelines Leinster Bridge Club has welcomed bridge players for over 20 years. It aims to promote bridge under the guidance and objectives of the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland (CBAI) as an affiliate of the Dublin South Region Branch. The club night on Wednesday and Sunday Realbridge online are open to novices, intermediate and master players. From January 1st 2023, anyone who wishes to become a member must apply on the Leinster Bridge Club (LBC) application form available from the bridge secretary or online at www.bridgewebs.com/leinster. The form should be given to the bridge secretary. Membership is restricted to those approved by the LBC Committee, who have undertaken sufficient introductory bridge classes or played previously in another club. Under 18s may play when accompanied by a parent or guardian who is a full club member. Membership must be approved by the LBC Committee and will be considered at the next Committee Meeting after application. LBC reserves the right to restrict numbers. A membership fee is payable annually and in addition you must pay for CBAI affiliation. All results are uploaded to Bridgewebs. Masterpoints are noted by LBC, accumulated for each player and returned to CBAI each year. This enables the accumulation of points in order to progress from novice to intermediate and master level. The Tournament Director (TD) oversees the night’s play, assigns the number of hands and form of play and moderates any disputes or scoring issues that arise during the game. The Tournament Director makes a judgement on any issues such as reneging, playing out of turn, signalling to a partner etc. If you do not have a partner, please turn up by 7.15pm and make it known to the organising team (TD or person taking payment) for that evening’s session. The club will try to find a partner for all players but, as there is no guarantee of a game, it is better to arrange a partner in advance. Guests are welcome to play occasionally in the club but we ask that any adult guest applies to join the club after playing 3 times with us. All results from Wednesday and Sunday games are uploaded to bridgewebs.com. They can be viewed online through the LCC Website or on Leinster at bridgewebs.com (www.bridgewebs.com/leinster). Revised Feb 2023 Members of LBC are entitled to a membership card which permits free parking at Leinster Cricket Club (LCC) on Wednesday evenings (not on other days of the week). All monies earned by the bridge club are used for bridge prizes, management, equipment and facilities maintenance and improvement. LBC strives to comply with GDPR regulations and will only use your personal information, email address etc. for administration of membership, communication of information, and organisation of events in compliance with GDPR. Please refer to the LCC Sports Club GDPR guidelines for further clarification. In the event of a conflict or complaint, the committee should be notified by email or in writing to the Leinster Bridge Club secretary. This issue will be dealt with at the following committee meeting. Bridge is a rewarding leisure and social activity which we hope all our players enjoy. Please try to introduce yourselves to all new or visiting players and be polite at all times, particularly to those who are only beginning to play in the club and may not be familiar with bidding and other protocols. Leinster Cricket Club is an active club with Tennis, Squash, Table-tennis, Bowls and many other part-time classes (salsa, Choir singing etc). If you would like to try out any of these sports please let us know and we will arrange with each section. New Full members very welcome! Contact Details Leinster Bridge Club Secretary – maevemnolan@gmail.com LCC Sports Club - Admin@lccsports.net lccsports.net CBAI – cbai.ie Tel: 01-4929666 Revised Feb 2023 Bridge Etiquette Deal and Start-up The number of boards played will depend on the number of tables. Time allocated is 7+ minutes per hand including the move. Slow play may lead to a hand being averaged. All pairs should state their system of bidding at each table before the bidding auction takes place (weak NT, 4 card majors, transfers etc.). If your partner bids 1NT, or makes a transfer bid, you should announce the meaning of it to the opposition. North handles the packs and completes the scoring on the sheets provided. Scores should be checked by one of the E/W players to ensure the correct result is entered. Dealer should be the first to take cards out, followed by the remaining players in a clockwise fashion. Count your cards face down, sort the hand and hold the cards up above the level of the table ensuring other players cannot see them. All bidding is done using the Bidding Box. Place your bid on the table in front of you facing the other players. Do not hover over the Bidding Box or touch the Bidding Box repeatedly whilst deciding what to bid. Only touch the bidding box cards once when making a bid. Once a bid is on the table, the bid cannot be changed unless a bidding card has fallen out by mistake or the bid is immediately rectified (in the same movement without any delay). If an alertable convention bid is made by your partner, you must put out the Alert sign and the person who is next to bid can ask what the bid means. The person who made the bid may not speak. It is their partner who gives the explanation. The other opponent can also ask what the bid means when it comes to their turn to bid. If you make a jump bid you must put out the STOP card with your bid, wait 10 seconds and then return the STOP card to your bidding box. The next player cannot bid until you return the STOP card to the box. Once all bids have been made and followed by three passes, the contract is set. All bids should be left out on the table until the lead is made by the defending pair. The person making the lead should place their lead face down until their partner says thank you to ensure the correct person is leading. At this point, any player can review the bidding. After the lead has been accepted, all bidding cards should be replaced correctly in the Bidding Box. There should be no talking during bidding or card play. During bidding, play and following the lead, partners should not have prolonged hesitations, make facial expressions or anything that could be construed as a signal to their partner. Allowance will be made here for beginners until they are more experienced. Revised Feb 2023 During and After Play When the dummy is put down, declarer must ask their partner to play each card. Dummy must not play a card even if it is a singleton until told to do so by Declarer. If a player reneges (i.e. fails to follow suit despite holding a card in that suit), call the director immediately. To avoid a renege a partner can ask their partner if they are out of the suit when they play (e.g. No clubs partner?) As each trick is played the cards are placed either vertically or horizontally in front of each player. These tricks are counted by each player at the end of the hand to ensure agreement of final contract result. Do not put away cards until the result is agreed. When a claim is made, Declarer must state how they would play the hand. After the last card is played, Dummy once again becomes a participating player and can now point out any issues that they have spotted during play, e.g. a renege. The result and table number for pair E/W are entered by North onto the scoresheet. This should be checked by the opposing pair for accuracy. Each player counts their cards and replaces them in the pack in the correct position. Bidding and play should not be discussed after each hand if possible (or very quietly!). Remember the other pairs may not have played the hands yet. When play is finished at each table, wait for the TD to call on pairs to move table or skip as required.